You take the good you take the bad…

It has come to my attention that my post about a certain part of my anatomy might have stretched some peoples comfort zones. That was not my intention (well, it probably was… I am good at that!) My intention was more to make you laugh and stuff. If you were bothered, well, sorry about that!

It’s been a few days since I wrote anything. Weekend weight loss has all been resolved and I am back on the right track, at least until dinner tomorrow. I am down almost 16 pounds. I kind of wish I could say 20… but hey. It has been 30 days since I started this new lifestyle thing. I have worked out 29 days in a row and I believe today will be thirty. It is my every intention to keep this streak alive as long as I can. A couple days this week it was almost a chore, but I felt better when I was done. It was fun and stuff when you lose 10 pounds in a week, but then when you lose 6 more in the next 3 weeks, it starts to wear on. My “Calorie Coach” on the calorie count website says I am on track to have lost my goal (100 pounds) by Christmas of 2009. That seems like an eternity to me, but as I work out more and more, perhaps this will become even MORE of a lifestyle and not be something I think about all the time. I guess at 1 pound per week, we are looking at 85 more weeks. Yowza!

Ultimately it’s not so much about the number. I want to be healthy. My new outlook on the whole thing is helping me a lot. I am not training for this race, that race or this season… I am working out to get healthy. Yes, I want to race my bicycle. I really do, but instead of it being my primary focus in my exercise, fitness and health is. I believe that ultimately, it will probably make me a much faster bike racer. Great tactical mind, good sprint, lowsy fitness vs. Great tactical mind, okay sprint, great overall fitness has to win out every time! Get me to the finish and let me seal the deal!

Sorry… a little off thrack there… Ultimately, if I cant ride for a day, couple days or a week, I am doing something else. Yes… my rides are 90 minutes and my other workouts are as little as 30, but hey… 30 minutes is good. It’s more than I did in December! (I mean the month… not any particular day!). I have woken up sore a lot of days and just tried to walk through it. I have done stuff I don’t normally do (taken advil) and sometimes that gets me bunched, but you know what… I could do a lot worse things in life than drink coffee and take a little advil to take the edge off stiffness and soreness!

Thanks to everybody who has sent me encouraging emails and blog comments… that helps a lot. The longest journey begins with a single step, and I think I have go things going right this time. Hopefully with positive changes in my life/lifestyle… this will stick.

On a MUCH lighter note, Thule is now my official rack sponsor! Yeah, I have a rack sponsor! Pretty cool! I have a nice T2 Rack for my Matrix. Should make riding @ lunch and/or going to the velodrome a BIT easier!

Nipples…. yes … Nipples

Well, it’s been a busy weekend but I have to tell you the oddity that came upon me yesterday. It was another cold Georgia day. No sense in trying to ride… it was miserable. Off the Y we went. I decided to try for my 5k PR… shouldn’t be TOO hard… right? Off I go… Shooting for sub 30 minutes. Not happening, but I ran my arse off. Got all hot and bothered… It was good. Well, go to the locker room and realize I had forgotten to take off my wife beater (for those that don’t know, that’s a plain white cotton tank top popular amongst rednecks… though in most redneck cases, they dont wear a shirt over them). Well anyway… to make a long story shorter… my nipples got worked like a rib. My shirt was all bloody and funky. NOT GOOD!

Well, that alone is worthy of typing, but it was the rest of the day that continued into the world of the wacko. You see, we busted our collective mood and headed to Nashville to see Sarah’s sisters. Along the way, any fabric touching my nipples was PAINFUL! When I got there, I asked my sister-in-law (Kari) for some nipple butter. She got rid of all of that after her breast feeding days… so she gave me some butt cream. (Baby butt cream that is). I lathered up the nipples and threw band-aids on them. Now… tell me what is so great about running? Sheesh….

The good news is… now my nipples are as soft as a babys bottom and they don’t hurt! I will say it is strange discussing your nipple issues with your sister-in-laws. Trey, my brother-in-law, was oddly accepting. I guess in his line of work … this was nothing! (He is an ER Nurse).

You are either shaking your head back and forth or laughing hysterically right now. I am not sure which most people will do.

On a much lighter and less personal note… I got a good bike ride in today! That was fun!

writers cramped

so the other day i thought i made a funny. well… sarah said it seemed like i was sad. i as oddly perplexed about the fat people catalog but was basically laughing it off. no harm no foul.

since then i couldnt think of anything to say. well. i am back with nothing to say… but back none the less.

i am working on a paint contest on fgf. it is for a track frame. i learned late last night that my compensation will be one of those frames with the winning paint job. this is really cool. five pounds of super sweet carbon. carbon is the only material i nave never ridden. the final frontier. teschner is truly taking care of me on this one.

my streak is still alive at 24 days.. soon to be 25. i am at 14.x pounds lost. cool.

the photographer for derek’s basketball is a retard. he just cost derek’s team a game. the kids dont care but one parent is crapping his pants over it. lame.

this was al typed on a phone… ouch!

Movement!

I have been sort of stuck. I have confess, it was getting me down. I mean, i know I didn’t eat all that great on my trip. I tried to be good, but reality… (it can suck sometimes). I did the best I could given the situation but the fact of the matter is I was still not making any weight loss progress for a full week. Heck, I even made un-progress. Right about now, funk soul brother …. I have jumped off the plateau and dropped another couple pounds putting my total at 14 pounds. Ultimately, that’s 14 pounds in three weeks… that is cool.

I really kind of needed this after the “blow to my confidence” we got in the mail last night. We get all kinds of catalogs. While some are entertaining, in general we have way to many. Well, I have made it to the fat people spam list now… we got “Living XL”. It’s a catalog of random products that fat people need like a scale with a 1000 pound capacity and 80″ x 40″ bath sheets. I was like “Great… I’m on the fat list’. Oh well, I’m also on the Victoria Secret list … so we have to call the lists a little “off”.

I did get a ride in yesterday as the weather is stuck in miserable here in the ATL and yesterday was the nicest day of the week. (44 degrees and 95% humidity). Fun ride actually! Twenty two days… 14 pounds… I’ll take that!

Back from LA

Well, I didnt have a lot of time to updated this as I was in Los Angeles to cover another World Cup.  It was a lot of fun, a lot of stress, a lot of work… but seeing the Madison was worth all of it!  WOW!  Having friends in the game… that made it even better!

I was committed to keeping up with my workouts.  I did it!  My steak is alive.  I got there on Thursday and went running.  Friday, between sessions, I walked at a good pace for 30 minutes, Saturday I ran before going to the velodrome, Sunday another walk and finally, tonight after the kids went to bed, Spanky and I went running.  It was good.  Twenty days straight w/intentional exercise!

It was kind of a rough trip.  My little guy got sick.  Sarah got him all sorted out, but I felt bad.  It’s good to be home.  My dog is snoring… clean sheets fresh shower… this will be a good nights sleep!

5k?

So we went to the Y last night.  I started running and needed to do 30 minutes… so I am running and running and  I get to 2 miles (my previous longest) in about 22:40?  I don’t know, let’s just say I doubt I will ever run a 4 hour marathon!  (I doubt I will ever run a marathon… at any pace, but …. that’s another story for another day).  Sarah was running along be-bopping to her tune-age and I was like ‘word’!  I kept going until 30:00 and was not quite to the 3.1 mark required to complete the 5k course!  Alright… stick it out… thud-thump-thud-thump-thud-thump  (that’s me running, kind of like Spanky… more force than grace.  I did it!  I’d like to bust that 3k time down to 30:00 on the treadmill… that would be kinda cool.  Normally I run around the little loop, but the treadmill is easier on the joints and has data for me to calculate and analyze in my head… helps the time go by better than counting laps…. 0 going on 1…. 1 going on 2 …. 2 going on 3…..

I am not 100% sure but I think I have run more this year than I did in the 90′s… heck, probably the 90′s and the 00′s combined!  (that’s really not saying much though…)

Another one under my belt!

Today it’s cold in the ATL.  Not Colorado cold, but cold none the less.  The RealFeal temp is about 38 degrees.  Throw in some wind chill on your bike and you can get a case of chilly <something>.  I was looking for reasons not to ride but finally I ran out of time to not ride so I did it.  Wasn’t too bad.  Did about an hour with some hills that kept me warm.  I rode up into the low rent district, you know… where they have tile drive ways.  If you are interested, that house is actually for sale.  I am thinking about making an offer!  You know “Hey, dumbass… I have a hammer.  Give me the house and I will fix your driveway for you?”   Realistically taking tile out of the driveway probably isn’t all that easy.  If I had a house like that, people would think I could afford to do have it done and then I could use an alias like Toby Keith to get my work done.

Wow, this took a bizarre twist!  The weather is supposed to suck the next couple of days.  I will be out of pocket for some of it, but planning on running indoors tomorrow unless I see an improved forecast.

Still kickin, all be it by a technicality

Sarah and I went to the gym last night.  All was well.  She was doing a treadmill thing and I was off running into guys in funny shorts walking in the middle of the running area.  (Walk Right, Pass Left on mondays… )  Anyway, I ran 2 miles.  I had to walk a couple extra 1/2 laps in there (19 laps to a mile, so that’s the equivalent of about 50 feet?)  Well, as I was JUST finishing my dealio and was going to run on the treadmill next to Sarah, she walked by with the baby pager… Max purged himself a bit and we were without purge control devices.  I tell ya, he is a cute kid, but he poops a lot!

Well, my 30 minute minimum MIGHT have been busted… but since it was for a poop based emergency, and not mine, I am going to consult with the officials on this one…. YUP!  It’s good!

13 days straight and I am planning on riding today.  Thursday – Monday will be the tough ones.  More on that later!

No love…

Well, I don’t have to try to worry about watching the Cowboys game next weekend.  They crap’d their pants tonight.  Oh well… 13-4, ending on a 3 game losing streak… but hey, we had fun!

Ooops I did it again!

Okay, so I thought I was going to be riding my trainer in the basement after the dallas game today.  Nope… It was TOO NICE OF A DAY!  I called in a babysitter for 90 minutes and busted out the general lee!  Great ride.  I underdressed a bit, and forgot my water bottle, but eh… still better than nothing!  Now…. If San Diego can thump the colts and the Cowboys and rock the house!  WORD!  Since I rode the ran 2 miles at the Y yesterday, my streak is alive and well!

BTW… thanks to everybody that has sent me comments, emails and everything else!  It really does help me.